Page 50 of Some Saviors Can Break You

“When I was twelve, they left me at the airport. Didn't even notice that they’d left me sitting in a seat at the gate when they boarded the plane. It wasn't until they were looking for a cab in an airport in Melbourne, Australia, that they realized I wasn't there. It’s a fourteen-hour flight from LAX to Melbourne Airport, the seats were three in a row, me and my two brothers sitting together with our parents in the row in front, how could they not notice I wasn't there? Do you know that not a single person came up to me in that airport to wonder why a kid was sitting alone for hours?”

“I-I'm s-sorry,” the woman murmured. “B-but I don’t know wh-what this h-has to do w-with me.”

“Of course you don’t.” He stalked back over to her and grabbed her around the neck again, hard enough to make her wince, but not hard enough to cut off her air supply. “Everyone notices you.” His free hand grabbed one of her breasts and squeezed it hard enough to make her grimace. “You throw these things in men’s faces and get whatever you want, you flaunt yourbeauty, use it to your advantage, but you don’t notice anyone around you, do you? Do you know that we’ve met before?”

Her green eyes grew wide, and she gave a small shake of her head.

“Of course you don’t. Because no one ever notices me. You weren't the first to walk right on by without sparing me a second glance, and you won't be the last. Guess where we met, if you get it right I might let you live.Might,” he repeated with a wink.

She shook her head, silently begging him not to make her play this game.

Releasing her, he pulled up a chair and sat in front of her, knee to knee. “Come on, it’s a good chance, you should take it while you can. What about I give you three guesses, that’s fair, right? Right?” he repeated when she didn't say anything.

“R-right,” she agreed.

“So let’s have at it, where did we meet before?”

“At the gym?” she asked, uncertain eyes watching him warily.

He huffed a laugh. “Do I look like the kind of guy who works out regularly?”

Unsure how to answer that she gave a single shake of her head.

“That’s one guess down, two to go.”

“The grocery store?”

“Not even close,” he replied. “You only have one guess to go, better think really hard before you answer because if you get it wrong, you're going to have to be punished.”

Tears slid down the woman’s pale cheeks, and she shook her head again, her eyes pleading with him not to do this. Too bad for her he had never been shown any mercy in his life, so he saw no reason why he should bestow any on her.

“Time is ticking by,” he said. “I want to be a fair guy, give you your three chances, but if you want to forfeit…” He raised a brow.

“No,” she said quickly. “Did we meet on the subway?”

“We did not,” he informed her, standing. “That was guess number three. You failed. You know what that means? It’s time for your punishment.” A smile graced his lips as fear consumed the woman, it was nice for once to be the center of someone’s world instead of being ignored.

Chapter

Nine

February 17th

6:17 A.M.

Florence yawned and stretched, surprised when her arms hit a warm, hard body.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she turned her head and looked up to see Eli smiling down at her.

Had he spent the night?

The last thing she remembered was him feeding her soup—which was not only cute and sweet but surprisingly attractive—as they talked about his nephew. She remembered him getting into bed beside her and holding her in his arms, then exhaustion must have taken hold because that was where her memories ended.

“Morning, princess, how are you feeling?” he asked when he saw that she was awake.

“Better,” she replied. It was true, her head still ached, but it was now more like a distant throbbing than the knifing jackhammer that had been there yesterday. This wasn't her firstconcussion, and she knew she’d be in pain and a little shaky for the next couple of days, but she was definitely ready to go back to work today. She wanted to know what Jake had found on both her attacker and the Dumpster Killer.

“Soup and sleep, the cure for everything,” he said with a grin as he leaned down to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

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